DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO.

Shannon News, 4 November 1924, Page 1

DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO.

MANY HOUSES SWEPT AWAY. COLLAPSE OF CIRCUS TENTS. FRANTIC ELEPHANT; AT LARGE. SYDNEY, Oct. 16. Seldom is' a tornado of such violence as one which swept over the southern portion of the continent last Tuesday, experienced in Australia. A large area of Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia was affected, and it will be some time before the full extent of the damage is ascertained on account of telephone and telegraph wires having been ruined over long distances. Fa one part of South Australia the force was so great that not only were the overhead wires carried away®ln tangled masses but both iron and timber poles were shat-tered.’.--The timber poles were snapped' off like match-wood at their bases, and the metal ones were so ! twisted that their tops reached the ground. Messages from country towns show that weather-board structures at many of the more exposed centres suffered enormously and there 'were., many thrilling escapes from - collapsing buildings. Sheets of roof iron were carried about like aeroplanes, and people had to keep a sharp look-out when they crashed to the ground. De-, vastation was wrought at one of the South Australian soldier settlements, many of the homes being swept away, and the same fate overtook one of the churches —all built of. timber. .

The tornado struck the' place at about tea-time, and one family was astonished 'to find its meal, table and everything, caught up by a terrific; force just as they were about to sit down, and carried from the back verandah some distance down a paddock. All went in pursuit, and were gathering. up . broken crockery and. food when they were horrified to see the roof and part of the walls of the home following the tea things.

, The edge of the visitation struck Hobart later in the evening, accompanied by rain, and lightning. Although it, did not assume its full violence therfe, some of the experiences were exciting enough. Large' circus tents fa the Domain housed a number of animals, and to the consternation of the keepers it partially collapsed. In the state of wild excitement that ensued, with the men frantically endeavouring to secure th'e terrified animals, a big bull elephant crashed its way through 'entanglements of rope and canvas and plunged through the domain. In a moment or two it was enveloped fa the pitch darkness.

Through the rain a number of the keepers gave chase, and every now and again vivid flashes of lightning showed the elephant rushing madly toward the town, with its head low down to the ground. As it reached the streets motorists and pedestrians joined in the chase, until several hundreds:of people were in pursuit. Those ahead, upon hearing the tumult along the streets above , the howling, gale, scattered like chaff as the elephant thundered past. Some motorists drew alongside the great beast, but were powerless to stop its progress, and it length it was lost in the darkness in trie less populous outskirts of the city. After an anxious night beating about in the darkness the keepers recaptured it soon after dawn on,the following morning.